Corvette steals Detroit show, but is it enough?

General Motors is counting on the 2014 Corvette to ignite passion for the brand.

PHOTO: Carlos Osorio, AP

The Cadillac ELR is unveiled during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

PHOTO: Carlos Osorio, AP

Hyundai Chief Designer Chris Chapman shows off the Genesis HCD-14 concept car, at the North American International Auto Show.

PHOTO: Tony Ding, AP

GM revealed its 2014 Corvette as part of the Detroit Auto Show.

GM

GM revealed its 2014 Corvette as part of the Detroit Auto Show.

GM

Ford introduced the Atlas Concept truck at the North American International Auto Show. The truck is the basis for the next generation F-150 due in 2014 or 2015.

PHOTO: Scott Olson, Getty Images

By David Booth, Postmedia News

Originally published: January 15, 2013

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DETROIT — Depending on your outlook, Chevrolet’s latest C7 Corvette was either a home run or a sacrifice bunt down the first base line.

Corvette loyalists, for whom the classic engine-in-front, big-inch American V8 engine format is sacrosanct, will love the new Stingray. It is the boldest statement from Bowling Green since the split window classic of the ‘60s and there is little doubt that it will be more than capable of running with the exotics. For those looking for The General to vault the ‘Vette to the forefront of the exotic car world, however, it may be a disappointment. Though superbly styled, it is more of the same old, same old; ultimately refined, of course, but standard operating procedure nonetheless.

GM would argue that it doesn’t want to offend said loyalists, but said loyalists are a diminishing lot; annual sales of Corvette are running at about half of its 30,000 peak. More importantly, the youth of today don’t worship the Corvette nearly as much as its exotic European competition. So, while the new C7 will absolutely captivate Corvette’s current fans, I’m not sure that it will attract any news ones.

Lincoln, like Cadillac, is trying to reinvent itself. However, unlike its General Motors counterpart, it is doing so less with product — many of its current models are slightly warmed over Ford products — but with greater customer interaction like its new 24-hour concierge service which includes, amongst other privileges, something called Lincoln Date Night, which sees American conquest customers getting a long-term test drive and a dinner-for-two at a Zagat-rated restaurant on Lincoln’s dime. Maybe GM will up the ante with OnStar in-cabin marriage counseling.

Infiniti’s new “Q” appellation made its debut at Cobo Hall in the form of the new Q50, which, despite the aggrandization of the numerical portion of its name, is the replacement for the company’s G37. Smartly styled, the Q50 is more than attractive enough to be a success. It is not, however, the flagship that Infiniti desperately needs. And therein lies the conundrum of the company’s recent decision to rename all its car products “Q.” Ostensibly, the rebranding is because, through extensive research, Infiniti determined that its most famous product was the company’s original Q45. Unfortunately, Infiniti long ago discontinued that model, leaving the company aggressively promoting an association with a car that it some time ago determined wasn’t worth redeveloping. Joseph Heller would have been proud.

And yet another conundrum: According to Automotive News, Nissan will cut the US price of its base Leaf by 18 per cent, or $6,400, lowering its MSRP from US$35,200 to US$28,800. While that should spur the tepid sales of the EV, it does raise a few concerns. For instance, according to Automotive News, the reduction means that, with the US $7,500 tax credit and other state subsidies, some consumers will pay as little as $18,800 for the updated Nissan electric car. The quandary it raises is that the cost of lithium ion batteries is generally pegged at about US $500 per kilowatt-hour. The Leaf has 24 of those, meaning that its battery alone costs about US $12,000, leaving, if my grade three algebra still holds true, the customer paying just US $6,800 for the rest of the car. What a bargain! The other question it raises is the supposed need for the US federal tax credit, which we were (or at least I was) sold on the basis of its necessity to promote sales of the zero-emissions vehicle. And yet now Nissan can afford to drop the price by almost the same amount as the tax credit? Either Nissan is now losing a boatload of money on every Leaf it sells or else it was making scads of moolah on every Leaf it has already sold and never needed the incentive. I’m just saying.

Hyundai went to much trouble to qualify that the HCD-14 Genesis concept unveiled at Detroit this past Monday was not — and I repeat not — the upcoming remake of its Genesis luxury sedan due to be unveiled at next year’s 2014 Detroit auto show. Pity. The Korean might well take a lesson that most other automakers have already learned: Teasing us with what you could do rather than you will do only inspires disappointment in the more traditionally styled production item that eventually arrives in showrooms. That goes doubly for the HCD-14 concept, which, with its Audi A7 coupe-like silhouette and suicide doors, is a vast improvement over the current, conservatively-styled Genesis.

It’s a race!

Which will be obsolete first? The idiot behind the steering wheel or the steering wheel itself? While the demise of the driver has been widely reported, thanks to the latest self-driving cars from Audi (not to mention Google, Volvo and Nissan), Popular Science’s Seth Fletcher wonders if Infiniti’s new steer-by-wire system, as seen on the new Q50, could spell the end of the steering wheel. Thanks to sensor, processors and actuators, said steering wheel could be replaced by a joystick or even, Fletcher postulates, voice control. Lord, I’m not ready for the Jetsons yet.

Conspicuous by their absence were introductions of new electric vehicles. Oh, Tesla had a big presentation booth, Mercedes is still trumpeting its Smart electric car and Cadillac did show us the Volt-based ELR, but gone is the buzz of the last few Detroit shows when anything with an electrical socket and a traction motor was trumpeted as a revolution on wheels. Hybrids may yet gain the traction they require from mainstream America, but EVs look to be no more than the playthings of the rich and self-righteous.